1953 ‘R’ Type Bentley Special by Alan Padgett Sold

The ‘R’ Type Saloon, successor to the small boot 4.5 litre MkVI proved very durable in service and were made only between 1952 and 1955. A mere handful of ‘R’ types have subsequently been made into Bentley Specials. This chassis was converted by Alan Padgett (Bentley Specialist) with a body built by him to the design of the owner W.S.S (Stuart) Howgate. Work commenced in 1984 after the car had been bought by Stuart from an Edinburgh man, its seventh owner. It was in a very worn and rusty state and not worth preserving as a saloon.

This car is no mean conversion. It was thoroughly restored with modifications in great depth using many non-standard components. The build-spec included a Salisbury rear axle, limited slip differential, Jaguar E Type servo braking system. The chassis was also heavily modified and a body shaped in 16swg aluminium on a steel frame, to achieve a well balanced lightweight car (finished MAUW of final car only 23cwt). In addition 2” SU Carburettors, electronic ignition, S1 camshaft and external free flow exhaust system to the 4566 cc straight six engine. The new body was painted Grey Metallic to a high quality by Eastern-Western Coachworks.

The owner set out to build a potent, good-looking Bentley Special, and there is little doubt that his highest hopes were achieved, justifying the three-and-half-years spent on assembling the technical specification required.

Professional built Bentley MkVI Specials today go for well over £100k but here is a super example for considerably less and it is also based on the rarer ‘R’ Type chassis, making it a very collectable and appreciating investment.

The car comes with a substantial document and photo history and NGK 662 also appears in the definitive bible on these cars the Bentley Specials and Special Bentleys volume 1 (p 330/331) a copy of the entry is included in the history file.